Fair grading

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

Proposal:

Schools should require teachers to use fair grading systems.

Discussion:

The points available for every assignment should be clearly indicated. The methods used to determine whether points have been achieved should be documented.

To avoid bias and favoritism, student names should not be visible or obvious to the grader during grading. Ideally, all submitted work would be anonymized and distributed to a randomly selected grading assistant from a pool of assistants for grading.

Schools must never use a “curve” for grading. The use of a grading curve means that students are being compared to each other instead of comparing their individual achievements to the learning objectives. For students who have achieved the learning objectives or at least are on track to achieving them and want to participate in competition against other students, that’s when they can participate in additional assignments or activities that are graded comparatively or on a curve based on the participating students. However, the results of such optional activities should be reflected in additional entries or badges in the student portfolio that are clearly indicated as being competitive achievements separate from the essential learning badges.

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